Leaves, Seasons, and Dead Trees (BxB)

29. - The Trials and Tribulations of Feeling Everything All at Once

"All I want is to flip the switch
Before something breaks that cannot be fixed"

- "Touch" by Sleeping at Last -

*****

Samuel

That night, the call jolted through the room, blending with the thunder outside that rattled the thin walls amid the sudden heavy rain. I was stuck half-listening to Matty rant about his debate club supervisor being a jerk. I'd barely gotten a nod in edgewise when the call flashed across the screen of my phone: Monteverde PD. The voice on the other end was brisk. All facts, no filler. They told me the house had been empty since last September. The neighbor from across the street, the nosy Mrs. Lancer, said they'd vanished — rehab, trailer park, the streets, another state... No one knew. Hell, maybe nowhere at all. The officer asked if I wanted them tracked down.

It's March now. Two months have crawled by since that call, and I haven't followed up. Maybe Tyson was wrong about me being proactive. Maybe I thought wrong about myself too. Maybe it was just a selfish urge. The itch for reassurance. A fact or two to let me sleep. But they're somewhere, untouched and out of reach, and the thought of prying them back into view feels like turning over a stone best left.

This isn't closure. It's reckoning.

And to make things worse, there's Tyson, sitting here across the table with the girlfriend he's kept hidden for months. Their fingers entwined, eyes bright, dragging me back to the present.

I force a smile, lungs tightening as they glance at me like lovers asking for a parent's blessing.

A real blessing, this, to feel everything at once...

If only I know what to feel right now.

"Well..." I shift, nodding at the tiger. "Guess you've got a knack for keeping secrets too."

"Ha!" Tyson barks out a full-bellied laugh while the pine marten beside him chuckles. "Dude, I gotta be real with you, I was freaking out about what you'd think. That's why I kept my mouth shut at first. But... yeah."

Freya rests her book on the table, offering me a small, careful smile. "Tyson told me a lot about you."

"Yeah?" I look over at Tyson, who squirms under my knowing stare. "Like what?"

"Well..." Freya leans into him, her paw finding his shoulder. Tyson drapes an arm around her like it was meant to be there all along, averting my gaze. "He said you're his best friend from school... and that you took some time away. Then, outta nowhere, you guys ended up here." She smiles up at him, the faint glint of her fangs just visible. "Like a sweet reunion, right?"

I nod, swallowing down the "bitter" half of it. "Yeah. Sweet it is." A laugh stumbles out, low and aimless, while my eyes drop back to the pages of my Linguistic Typology book. The words blur into one another, but I let them, just a flimsy excuse to look busy. It saves me from whatever Freya or Tyson might ask if they see the twist of irony in my voice.

Still, something scratches at the edges of memory. Have I seen her before?

As the two settle closer, I lean just enough to catch Freya's eye. "Have I seen you somewhere?"

She tilts her muzzle, brows knitting as she thinks, then her face lights up, snapping her fingers. "The old town! I was at the fountain doing that dance show. And this tiger saw me and I saw him, and we just... Well, you know." Her laugh is airy, free. "Totally random moment, much like you two."

"Oh, right." The memory locks into place: that day Tyson mentioned his sister hurting herself. And then he'd wandered off to chat with a dancer, leaving me hanging after claiming he needed me. "So. Freya, huh?"